BUSINESS – It’s fast, accurate and as plain as your own face. That’s the basic idea behind a set of security authentication products offered by Biomids of Cotuit, a new technology company developing biometric authentication systems for computers and mobile applications. Founder Frank Mann said that this technology can do things such as open doors, use ATM machines without a card, and securely access computer networks.

Camps coming down

NEWS – As the strong winds of this week’s Nor’easter howled outside the windows of the Federated Church of Hyannis Nov. 7, residents, business people, and area service agencies gathered inside for an update on the Main Street Initiative of the Cape and Islands Regional Network to Address Homelessness. While most deemed the initiative a success, everyone acknowledged that there is still work to be done. That work, according to Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald, includes the razing of area homeless “camps.” “There is an ordinance prohibiting any type of public camping,” MacDonald told the small crowd, noting that the ordinance includes the camps frequently found near Old Colony Road in Hyannis, and those at vacant buildings in the area. In the coming weeks, the police will be attempting to identify who resides in the camps and guiding them to appropriate services before the camps are destroyed.

Prime time for Toyota, Kia

BUSINESS – Prime Auto Group is coming to Cape Cod as the new owners of Hyannis Toyota and Kia of Cape Cod. Rumors of the sale of the dealerships by Jack Carter have hovered over the past few weeks, but with the filing of applications to transfer licenses for the dealerships, they are confirmed.

Local effort helps with NY Superstorm Sandy relief

NEWS – Jenny McManus, phys-ed teacher and athletic director at Trinity Christian Academy, thought it would be nice to ask the school community to make donations to help those affected by Superstorm Sandy in her hometown of Staten Island, NY. She planned to pack her minivan with whatever came in after posting a request on the school's Facebook page for her next trip back. When she and other staff members arrived at the school on Mary Dunn Road after the weekend, the bags full of donated materials nearly blocked the doors. Suddenly the minivan wasn't going to be enough.

Assembly approves finance director ordinance

NEWS – An ordinance that would create a new county position of director of administrative services and finance was unanimously approved by the Assembly of Delegates Nov. 7. The ordinance was proposed by Yarmouth Delegate Spyro Mitrokostas, who points to two reports to the county commissioners that the positions of county administrator and finance director should not be held by the same individual. That has been the practice since 1997, first as a cost-saving measure, and then just as a matter of practice.

Barnstable backs Obama in a good year for incumbents

NEWS – With two exceptions, Barnstable voters matched their results with those of the eventual winners in Tuesday’s election. With 25,560 ballots cast, good for a 77.6 percent turnout, Barnstable followed the national narrow divide for President (Obama, 50.39 percent, Romney, 48.22 percent). Where voters chose differently was in the heavily contested U.S. Senate race, voting strongly behind Republican Scott Brown (55.3 percent) over Democrat Elizabeth Warren (44.7 percent). The night belonged to Warren, however. Barnstable voters also put their weight behind Republican Eric Steinhilber of Hyannis in his bid for county commissioner. He would win three other towns, but Democratic incumbents Mary Pat Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila Lyons of Wellfleet were returned for another four years. Voters in Precinct 11 and 12 were firmly behind incumbent Sandwich Republican Randy Hunt for the 5th Barnstable state Rep seat over challenger Patrick Ellis. The contest for a seat on the governor’s council between incumbent Charles Cipollini of Fall River and his brother, Oliver Cipollini of Marstons Mills, ended in the latter’s favor. That’s a result likely to be welcomed by Charles, a Republican, who had helped his brother, a Democrat, campaign. The town followed the trend on ballot questions as well, supporting the right-to-repair question, legalizing medical marijuana and narrowly opposing doctor-assisted suicide. On the non-binding Question 4, which did not appear on all ballots across the state, Barnstable voters would instruct their U.S. senator to amend the Constitution to eliminate corporate campaign contributions allowed by the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Appointee no longer as voters back Princi for Assembly

NEWS – Barnstable voters effectively ratified the town council’s decision to appoint Patrick Princi over Greg Milne to fill Barnstable’s seat on the county Assembly of Delegates. With no formal debates prior to the election, Princi said that he and Milne had their own debating society of sorts “at the dump.” Both candidates frequented the Barnstable transfer station’s recycling area seeking support from would-be voters and exchanging ideas on county issues with one another.

Dull day, bright future

BUSINESS – At the dedication of the Airport Way Solar Field Nov. 7, project backer Tony Shepley of Shepley Wood Products cut a celebratory ribbon with Cape business leader Bruce MacGregor, My Generation Energy founder Luke Hinkle, state Sen. Dan Wolf, and the town’s energy coordinator, Richard Elrick. The solar panel array is owned by a consortium of local businesses that will use the power generated and enjoy energy credits on their utility bills. Snotty weather forced the ceremony inside an old Cape & Islands Steel warehouse up a hill from the five-acre field north of Barnstable Municipal Airport that’s been filled with 5,712 panels. It’s now the largest such array on Cape Cod, surpassing that of Cape Air.

Good news for dog’s best friend

NEWS – The Committee for Barnstable Dog Parks reports that the committee and the town “have agreed upon the site at the corner of Phinney’s Lane and the Hathaway’s Pond Access Road as the best place to build the dog park.” Identifying a site was a big step on the road to raising funds for what organizers hope will be only the first dog park in town.

HYCC home to US Figure Skating event

SPORTS – Fans of figure skating will want to make the Hyannis Youth and Community Center their destination this weekend as the HYCC will be home to the US Figure Skating Eastern Sectional Championships. From Nov. 9 through 12, skaters of various levels will compete in Dance, Pairs, Ladies and Men’s en route to the national championships and the Olympics.

Kris Clark: Keeping the great outdoors great

NEWS – Oysters fear her. But the rest of Cape Cod loves Kris Clark of West Barnstable for her dedication to conservation of land and her promotion of clean water and the shellfishing industry. On Nov. 16, the Barnstable Land Trust will give her its 2012 Founders’ Award for environmental leadership. “I don’t ever remember not enjoying the outdoors,” Clark said, and added, “I grew up in the Sixties and got swept up in the movement to save the earth.” She said that a phrase from the era has stuck with her ever since: “There’s no ‘away’ anymore,” as in throwing things ‘away.’”

Police say Main Street license holders are taking care of business

BUSINESS – The Barnstable Police Department and liquor-license holders on and around Main Street, Hyannis are not only on the same page; they’re playing by the same book. Det. Lt. John Murphy and Officer Steve Maher, the department’s liaisons to the Barnstable Licensing Authority, invited owners and managers to a meeting Nov. 12 to review the season past and address any lingering issues. “It was a great summer,” Murphy told his 20 or so listeners. “We worked very hard to create an environment where you can flourish… We just want to say thank you. We have a great working relationship with every bar on Main Street.”

Cape prone to wildfires

NEWS – Technically speaking, Barnstable County is a wildfire tinderbox. That wasn’t the terminology used by Joel Carson, lead consultant on a wildfire survey for Cape Cod, but it sums up the combination of soil and fuel conditions in the region. The sandy soils and type of vegetation that dominate of Barnstable and Plymouth counties make them second only to California for natural conditions conducive for forest fires, Carson said.

Making appointments takes time

NEWS – The long wait to fill three openings on the Barnstable Economic Development Commission continued this week, as the council appointments committee nominated an associate member for the licensing authority and two student members of the youth commission. Committee chair Councilor Janet Joakim said she would confer with Council Administrator Barbara Ford on a schedule of interviews for vacancies on the BEDC, the zoning board, and the land acquisition and preservation committee. It was not known which of these would be on the agenda for the committee’s next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. Joakim said also that more frequent meetings might be needed for a time.

Cape League inducts 13th Hall of Fame

SPORTS – The celebration for the 13th class to be inducted by the Cape Cod Baseball League kicked off with its annual brunch and silent auction, but garnering the attention of most in attendance at the Chatham Bars Inn was Boston Red Sox southpaw Andrew Miller, a member of the 2004 Chatham A’s. For local fans, however, a true hero of the day was John “Jack” Aylmer, a CCBL administrator who was instrumental in the creation of both the Hyannis and Bourne teams. Son Patrick noted that his father had done his best to avoid induction into the Hall of Fame for years, and that the family was thrilled it was finally happening.

Sports bar coming to Cape Cod Mall

BUSINESS – Nantucket restaurateurs Gary and Elaine Roy are moving to Cape Cod, where they plan to keep a close eye on their latest eatery, T. Murphy’s Sports Bar & Grill. On Nov. 19, the licensing authority OK’d the couple’s request for a new annual all alcohol common victualler license for part of the space at the Cape Cod Mall vacated by T. G. I. Friday’s. Gary Roy is the manager of record. Along with the pouring license, the authority also approved live and non-live entertainment licenses as well as a karaoke license. “It will be low-key,” Roy replied. “We’re not looking for a hip-hop scene. We want to cater to professionals – fortysomethings, thirtysomethings.” Tom Geiler, the town’s director of regulatory services, said the mall “has not had a restaurant that operated beyond mall hours for quite a while. [This] is a good thing [that] will keep people and traffic moving around.” That would include mall employees looking for a sandwich or something more substantial after their stores close.

Habitat feeling at home in Barnstable

NEWS – With the gift of a house lot at 72 Ginger Lane in Centerville, Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod is back in business in Barnstable. Earlier this year, Habitat leaders told the Barnstable Housing Committee they were eager to build another affordable home in town. Now it appears they have an opportunity. “We have earmarked Barnstable as a town we really wanted to focus on,” Leedara Zola told the committee Nov. 20. Zola, Habitat’s director of land acquisition and project permitting, said that while “the numbers look good” for Habitat residences in town, they’re all at the group’s Danvers Way development in Hyannis.

Mills man recycles textiles

BUSINESS – So you’re on a street in Burundi and you see a person wearing a Barnstable High School tee shirt walk by. In the Congo, there are women wearing Cape Cod hoodies, and in Rwanda you might see a kid playing soccer sporting a Red Sox hat. There hasn’t been a sudden surge in Third World tourists to our region; it’s more likely these people have been recipients of a shipment of textiles from Paul Curry of Marstons Mills. His growing business, Bay State Textiles, generates its revenue from your reclaimed clothing.

Nature, not man, is plover predator on the Neck

NEWS – It was a good year for revenue and a bad year for piping plovers on Sandy Neck. In her year-end report to the Sandy Neck Advisory Board Nov. 19, Chief Ranger Nina Coleman said storms and predators laid waste to nests of the protected shorebirds. Only three chicks fledged this year, compared with 57 in 2011 and 60 in 2010. “It was a terrible year for piping plover, the worst it’s ever been,” Coleman said, adding wryly, “Hence, all the revenue.” With few birds to protect, more of the beach could be open. What’s more, the shark scares that closed other Cape beaches drove additional business to the northside strand shared by Barnstable and Sandwich.

Councilors speak on homeless

NEWS – Following a heartfelt talk at last week’s council meeting by a Hyannis man who once brought blankets to encampments of the homeless and now is homeless himself, town councilors wrestled with the pending clearing of the camps and how to help the unhoused. “I was a fisherman for 17 years at Hyannis harbor,” Pete Phillips told councilors Nov. 15. “I try to be a productive citizen. I’m not perfect, but at the same time, I’m trying to strive and do better to add to the quality of the life of the town.” Councilor Ann Canedy, who said she’s worked with the homeless through her church for years, said that “nobody should have to live or be allowed to live under those circumstances” in the camps. “There are alternatives, maybe not enough,” she said, endorsing an idea of Alan Burt’s to work toward a regional solution. Vice President Jan Barton thanked Phillips for his military service and observed that “one out of every four homeless persons is a veteran.” Having toured the camps with Police Chief Paul MacDonald, she said she agreed with Canedy that “no one should be living in them…. Our leaders need to step up a little bit further.”

Pump out coming for Hyannis Harbor

NEWS – A new pump out facility to handle waste from larger vessels in Hyannis Inner Harbor will be built with the help of a state Coastal Pollution Remediation grant. With the designation of the Cape’s southern coastline as a state no-discharge area, there were some known gaps in pump out services, especially for larger commercial vessels, according to Dr. Dale Saad, DPW senior project manager. With the grant, the town will survey the Inner Harbor for the best location to handle larger crafts, design, and install the pump out.

Raiders claim 15th state volleyball title

SPORTS – The noise in the gym at Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough was already at the upper decibels at the start of the MIAA Div. 1 South State Championships Nov. 17, but when the Barnstable Red Raiders recorded the winning point the roar was simply deafening. Moments later the girls volleyball team hoisted its 15th State Championship Trophy, capping off head coach Tom Turco’s 25th year at the helm in true Red Raider style. It wasn’t an easy victory for Turco’s team, which fell dramatically in the opening game of the state finals 13-25 to Newton North, the only team that served Barnstable a loss in regular season play. Rather than give in and go home, the Raiders regrouped and battled to a 25-16 Game 2 before fighting to a 25-23 Game 3 and a 25-17 final game.

Commissioner Lyons to plead no contest to OUI

NEWS – County Commissioner Sheila Lyons was arrested in Eastham Nov. 20 and charged with driving under the influence and one other traffic violation. While she pleaded not guilty in Orleans District Court the following day, Lyons said that she plans to change her plea to no contest. Lyons, 56, said that she was out with friends in Hyannis earlier that evening. She declined to say where they were. She was headed to her home in Wellfleet. “This was a hard lesson, a lesson well learned, and it will never happen again,” Lyons said, adding that she was thankful that the result was an arrest, rather than someone getting hurt.

SEMASS to negotiate with county on long-term trash pact

NEWS – Covanta SEMASS, which operates the waste-to-energy incinerator where most of the Cape’s trash is burned, has agreed to exclusive negotiations for 45 days with representatives of the Cape Cod Solid Waste Contract Advisory Committee. With contracts for most Cape towns expiring in 2015 and the likelihood of steep increases in per-ton tipping fees for disposal, most Cape towns banded together through the committee to negotiate the best deal possible. In subsequent months, they’ve been joined by a group of South Shore communities. On Nov. 28, Patty Daley, deputy director of the Cape Cod Commission, told town representatives that Covanta SEMASS is willing to enter exclusive talks with the towns as a group to develop a 10-year disposal contract with a possible five-year extension. The talks will not, for the moment, include transportation and recycling charges.

Re-creation of Osterville recreation fields advances

NEWS – After viewing photos that emphasized the decrepitude of the recreation fields next to the former Osterville Bay Elementary School, the Community Preservation Committee endorsed the recreation department’s request for $32,000 for a conceptual design study for their improvement. The committee made its OK contingent on receiving word from Town Manger Tom Lynch on the disposition of the town recreation building on the property, which is under study. Committee chair Lindsey Counsell said knowing whether the building will remain would be crucial in redesigning playing fields.

Fuller Farm preserved

NEWS – Fuller Farm, the Marstons Mills property described in 2010 as the largest private farm field on Cape Cod that is neither developed nor protected, needs a new description. As of this month, the land is in the care of the Barnstable Land Trust; the $1,600,000 purchase was recorded Nov. 14.